Justine Tanya Bateman (born February 19, 1966) is an American writer, producer, and actress. She is best known for her regular role as Mallory Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989). Until recently, Bateman ran a production and consulting company, SECTION 5. In the fall of 2012, she started studying computer science at UCLA.

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Bateman was born in Rye, New York, United States (U.S.),[1] to Victoria Elizabeth, a former flight attendant for Pan Am who was originally from the United Kingdom (UK), and Kent Bateman, an American acting coach, film and television writer/director, and founder of a repertory stage in Hollywood.[2] Her younger brother is actor, director, and producer Jason Bateman, and both children supplemented their family's earnings with their adolescent television careers.[3]

She attended Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, California. However, Bateman could not attend college due to her contractual obligations with Family Ties. According to Bateman in 2014, she was informed by the series' line producer Carol Himes, "You’re under contract to Paramount Studios."[4]

Bateman's most prominent acting role began when she was a teenager, playing the role of superficial Mallory Keaton on the television sitcomFamily Ties in 1982; she continued the role throughout the show's run which ended in 1989.[5] In 1984, Bateman starred on the Tales from the Darkside television series, in the episode "Mookie and Pookie". She hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live during its 13th season in 1988.[1]

The following year she ceased her Family Ties role, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.[6]

In the third season Arrested Development episode, "Family Ties," which was broadcast in February 2006,[9] her character is initially believed to be Michael Bluth's sister, but she turns out to be a prostitute taken advantage of by his father, and pimped by his brother. Michael Bluth was played by Bateman's real-life brother, Jason.[10]

In 1988, Bateman starred in the lead role in the motion picture Satisfaction.[1] The film, about an all-girl musical band, also featured Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson. Bateman starred as the lead vocalist and also performed the vocals on the soundtrack.

Bateman served not only as an actress but also as a producer on Easy to Assemble, which garnered more than 5.1 million views during its second season;[7] created Digital Components for Level 26; served as an executive producer—with FM78.tv—on the adaptation of Lisi Harrison's teenage book series, The Clique, for a Warner Bros. internet series;[16] and produced a film short called Z, which she promoted on her Facebook profile in January 2012.[17]

Bateman also co-produced and co-presented with fashion maven Kelly Cutrone on their internet talk show Wake Up and Get Real (WUAGR).[18] Described as an alternative to the television series The View, WUAGR was last broadcast in June 2011.[19]

In a 2008 interview, Bateman claimed that television "is dead", and she reaffirmed this perspective with tech publication Gigaom in November 2010:

TV as we knew it is absolutely dead. There are still shows in production, still ad buys being made, but the numbers these shows get are a small fraction of the ratings these same type of shows used to command. The amount of TV shows produced annually decreases every year. The amount of people employed by TV shows is far less than it used to be. All these decreases are steady from year to year. Traditional TV is not "in a slump," it has been steadily declining.[20]

Bateman further explained that "multiplatform shows that have different designs not only in their very structure, but in the manner of delivery" will replace television. However, she concluded by conceding that AM radio still existed.[20]

On a hiatus from the entertainment business, Bateman established a clothing design company in 2000. She managed it until its closure in 2003. Justine Bateman Designs was known for one-of-a-kind hand knits. It sold to BendelsNY, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Fred Segal.[21]

She served on the National Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild,[22] until July 2009, when she resigned just prior to the end of her initial three-year term.[23]

Bateman is a licensed pilot of single-engine planes and a certified scuba diver.[27]

On March 24, 2012, Bateman announced on her Twitter account that she had been accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and will begin taking classes in the northern autumn of 2012.[28] Shortly afterward, Bateman commenced an ongoing Tumblr page titled "College Life," in which she chronicles her study of a degree in digital management and computer science—Bateman is scheduled to graduate in 2016.[4]

Bateman considers her vocational interests in equivalent terms to her family life, explaining in 2014:

There’s no way I’m not doing this [UCLA degree]. When you said, "Why do you have to work?" ... I have to because I have to. This is my life. There are things I want to do. I see this incredible opportunity for entertainment to be using technology. I just look at where technology’s going and what it’s doing, and to not want to be a part of that and get on that treadmill… Honestly, I would just want to die. I wouldn’t be who I am if I didn’t jump in that.[4]